Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi: Allegations of Abuse, ARB, 2006

Presiding Officer: Sultan, I’m just curious why we have so many references to you being in Afghanistan that are in this Summary that we are reading to you. Can you help explain that to me?

Detainee (through translator): Yes, I will. When the United States got attacked, the United States advertised that, if any Arab person is caught and handed over, there would be a reward of about $5,000 to do so. At the same time, I was kidnapped by either an Afghani or a Pakistani. They though they hit the jackpot when they sold me as an Arab person because they were poor people. They kidnapped and took me to Afghanistan and

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entered Afghanistan with me. When I entered Afghanistan, they put me in jail for about a month. There were some other prisoners in that prison. Some of the prisoners were Pakistani and others were Arabs. The Afghanis hit me many times and asked me to say and admit that I was with the prisoners there in that prison and that we were from Tora Bora. The tortures there were so big. We were tortured during the day, in the evening, and in the afternoon. You almost have to say that you are Usama bin Laden so they would stop torturing you.

Presiding Officer: Who was this that was doing the torturing?

Detainee (through translator): The Afghanis.

Presiding Officer: Military, civilians or police?

Detainee (through translator): I don’t know exactly who they were.

Presiding Officer: Okay.

Detainee (through translator): Some of them were wearing civilian clothes and some were wearing police clothes.

Presiding Officer: All right. Continue.

Detainee (through translator): After they made me admit to all these things and say all these things, they handed me over to the Americans.

Board Member: Sultan, you said that the Afghanis that kidnapped and took you to Afghanistan, put you in prison, and then made you admit that you were in Tora Bora and did all these things. After they turned you over to the Americans, did you ever tell anyone that you had gone to Afghanistan?

Detainee (through translator): When they handed me over to the Americans in Baghram, I tried to tell them my story and that that was the story, but the Americans refused to listen to it. After that, I was tortured by the Americans and I had to say the same things that I said when I was in Afghanistan.

Presiding Officer: I’m sorry. Say that again.

Detainee (through translator): The Americans tortured me and made me admit to the things that I stated when I was in Afghanistan.

Presiding Officer: So the Americans tortured you also?

Detainee (through translator): Yes.

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Presiding Officer: And were these military or police?

Detainee (through translator): Military.

Board Member: Was this in Baghram?

Detainee (through translator): Yes.

Board Member: So, in Baghram, you told the Americans the same thing you told the Afghanis?

Detainee (through translator): I told them that I came there for treatment and they didn’t believe me. They told me to say that, “You were in Tora Bora and you are from the al Qaida.”